HipStamp vs. Ebay -- a buyer's perspective
HipStamp advantages —
HipStamp offers a wider variety of choices for midrange and expensive stamps
HipStamp sellers are more likely to have high professional competence
A wash, more or less —
Many dealers sell items on both sites, usually at the same price
Delivery time: Hip stamps has fewer jack-rabbits but also fewer tortoises. After
concluding a number of purchases on both sites during the same time
period, I’ve noted that the first Ebay orders arrive faster on average but
the last ones arrive later on average.
Quality of packaging: similar
Use of tracking: comparable
Competitiveness of auctions driving up prices: similar at the two sites
Hip Stamp disadvantages (for buyers):
A significant percentage of sellers on Hip Stamps don’t indicate when they’ve
shipped an item, either by marking the “shipped” box or by feedback
Messages to dealers on Ebay always get a response; those on Hip Stamps
often are ignored, especially by the same dealers who don’t notify about
shipping
Transactions always reach some conclusion on Ebay, whether receipt or
refund. Some Hip Stamp transactions screech to a halt, with a dealer not
indicating shipping, the item not arriving in a timely manner, and no
response to inquiries
Fewer Hip Stamp sellers provide feedback to buyers (which I personally don’t
care about, but some buyers do).
Dealer feedback is less meaningful on Hip Stamps than on Ebay because
dealer feedback is padded with automatic positive feedback, sometimes
necessitating going through pages of feedback to find a few genuine ones
HipStamp offers a wider variety of choices for midrange and expensive stamps
HipStamp sellers are more likely to have high professional competence
A wash, more or less —
Many dealers sell items on both sites, usually at the same price
Delivery time: Hip stamps has fewer jack-rabbits but also fewer tortoises. After
concluding a number of purchases on both sites during the same time
period, I’ve noted that the first Ebay orders arrive faster on average but
the last ones arrive later on average.
Quality of packaging: similar
Use of tracking: comparable
Competitiveness of auctions driving up prices: similar at the two sites
Hip Stamp disadvantages (for buyers):
A significant percentage of sellers on Hip Stamps don’t indicate when they’ve
shipped an item, either by marking the “shipped” box or by feedback
Messages to dealers on Ebay always get a response; those on Hip Stamps
often are ignored, especially by the same dealers who don’t notify about
shipping
Transactions always reach some conclusion on Ebay, whether receipt or
refund. Some Hip Stamp transactions screech to a halt, with a dealer not
indicating shipping, the item not arriving in a timely manner, and no
response to inquiries
Fewer Hip Stamp sellers provide feedback to buyers (which I personally don’t
care about, but some buyers do).
Dealer feedback is less meaningful on Hip Stamps than on Ebay because
dealer feedback is padded with automatic positive feedback, sometimes
necessitating going through pages of feedback to find a few genuine ones
Comments
Interesting observations. I will assume that you are primarily a customer and both sites and have been for quite enough time to compile your analysis.
I will address your observations from a seller's perspective and not confrontationally.
I sell exclusively on HipStamp as I don't really care much for the EBay platform for a variety of reasons. I do not have a brick and mortar store and am really selling now to prepare myself for retirement in a couple of years. Having said that, I try to present quality material at fair prices with a high level of service, etc, etc. I know like Ebay, there is a wide variety of sellers here ranging from rank amateurs to very large philatelic dealers with store presences and years of experience among the now 1210 stores now hosted by HS. I am also an IDPA (Internet Philatelic Dealers Association) member and adhere to the very strict code of ethics required to hold membership in the organization. While there are many dealers are not members but should be, there are also many who clearly would not qualify for membership.
Again, having said that, I would suggest that all customers adhere to a principle of if do not receive good service from a particular seller, don't do business with them anymore. Just as if one were to walk into a restaurant and received poor service and subpar food, you probably wouldn't go back for a second try. Same thing here and for that matter on EBay or really any other platform for that matter. Internet commerce in general is quite a different animal than face to face business. The customer takes more of a leap of faith with internet transactions that isn't required when face to face. The customer can only view pictures of any items they might have interest in purchasing and cannot physically examine it in person. That requires high quality images, detailed descriptions, and prompt requests to any questions the customer may have on any given item.
One observation I might add to yours is that it seems that many of the "best" HS dealers seem to somewhere in that middle range of store size, do not have a physical store presence, and are not full time dealers. I personally know the owners of many of these types of stores and all take great pride in their responsiveness to customers, timely shipping policies, quality packaging, etc. It seems that many of the complaints I hear come from customers who buy from those stores on either side of this spectrum, i.e. the rank amateurs and the large, high volume operations.
This is not that difficult thing to do. Steps to take to be a high quality online stamp dealer. 1. High quality images and detailed descriptions along with clearly stated store policies including fair return policies and a reasonable certing policy. 2. Prompt response to customer questions along with prompt feedback to customers as to the status of their order. 3. Prompt and quality packaging with the proper paperwork included. 4. Ship items same day or next business day. 5. Notify the customer as to when their items ships. 6. Follow up promptly with any questions or concerns with the customer after they receive their items. Any deviation from these (my) standards are unacceptable to me and should be to any other dealer and customer.
Anyway, too long winded on this by now but I really wanted to respond to your observations because I happen to agree with you but also add to some of your observations. They are interesting and beneficial. There are ways to buy from quality dealers and avoid disappointments. I'll probably get blasted for what I added here by some but I'm a big boy and can take it. All our best to you and thank for your valuable input.
Greg
What is the link to your store?
Thanks
Berrien
https://www.hipstamp.com/store/the-bentley-collection
https://www.hipstamp.com/store/tatyszka-stamps
https://www.hipstamp.com/store/cddstamps
https://www.hipstamp.com/store/docgfd-coversnstamps
And yes, of course, George has a great store as well but I have my suspicions that Mouse does most of the work. My apologies George (Mouse)!
Signed Mouse.
Also an IPDA member along with ASDA and APS.
And Bentley is really good at the keyboard. It just always comes out kkkkkkkkkkkttttkkkkkkeeeekkkkkkk6666kkk. It means something to him I guess.
I know well the quality of Ted and Scott's stores and other contributions. I appreciate this expansion of trustworthy sites. I also appreciate the unique internet related contributions of the IPDA. All of this is most helpful to a returning collector (after 50+ years; way, way before the internet!!!).
Best
Berrien
Are you aware that you can see the number of watchers on auctions items in your watch list on Ebay?
I normally don't provide shipping labels because I feel that just slows down the refund process. Do other sellers provide them?
I'm a buyer. I've sold a few on ebay, not many.
Hip stamp's search feature is more user friendly.
I put in country and Scott # and I get what I'm searching for.
On ebay if the Scott # is anywhere in the title, even if it's just in the price
or a dealer stock number it will show up. Making it harder to find what I'm looking for.
I wish I discovered Hipstamp earlier.
You said this above.
On Ebay, the administrators themselves trigger the refunds when an item is not received or returned because it is unsatisfactory. On HipStamp, the buyer has to figure out on his or her own how to get that done. If the buyer is lucky, the seller will respond to message contact and make things right. If not, you're left with going through PayPal to reverse the payment. HipStamp should be promotional for sellers while also protecting buyers from failed transactions. After all, good sellers benefit from the reputation of the site for fairness, and that means holding non responsive sellers accountable.
The reason that Ebay can enforce refunds and returns is due to the fact that Ebay itself is handling the actual transactions themselves now. When you but something on Ebay you are actually paying Ebay and then Ebay passes on the payment less any fees at that time, so Ebay is involved in those transactions and can enforce those policies. On Hipstamp they can enforce not anything like that due to the fact that when you make purchases on Hipstamp the payment is handled by Paypal. Hipstamp itself is limited as to what they can do on that because they are not directly involved in the transaction at all. Hipstamp really has no power to enforce refunds and returns. Paypal can because they processed the payment. Hipstamp can do other things but it is really limited as to what they can do.